


The Other Avengers

by Linz2



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (edna mode voice) NO SEQUEL, Gen, Phase 2/3 characters are the original Avengers, Roleswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linz2/pseuds/Linz2
Summary: The fate of the planet, in the hands of renegades, hermits, and a businesswoman. Just great.





	1. We Are At War

The stars were shining down on an asteroid, somewhere in space. A figure stood, there, speaking to someone.

"The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a small world, the world of humans. They seek to wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chirauri, will follow. The world will be his, the universe yours. And the humans… what can they do but burn?"

Different stars shined down on a facility somewhere on Earth. A voice came from the PA system.

"All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed. Please proceed to you designated vehicles for army-assisted evacuation. This is not a drill."

A helicopter arrived at the facility, and out came three people: Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Hope Van Dyne.

"How bad is it?" Nick asked an agent on the ground, Phil Coulson.

"That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Phil said. Phil accompanied the three of them down to an underground lab. "Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." He explained.

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase."

"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event." Phil said.

"It just turned itself on?"

"How is that possible?"

Nick silenced Maria and Hope's confused questions with a gesture. "What are the energy levels now?" He asked.

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evacuation." Phil said.

"How long to get everyone out?" Nick said.

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour." Phil said.

"Do better." Nick said. He turned to face Hope. "Miss Van Dyne, are you sure you even want to be here?" He asked.

"After all my company has invested in this project, I ought to see what will become of it." Hope said.

"Besides, evacuation might be futile." Maria said.

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Nick said with a shocked glance.

"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." Maria pointed out.

"I need you to make sure the Phase Two prototypes are shipped out." Nick said, ignoring her.

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Maria said.

"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on." Nick said. "Clean out the tech below. I want every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone." He ordered her.

"Yes, sir." Maria muttered, walking off with a few agents.

"Talk to me, doctor! Is there anything we know for certain?" Nick called out to Selvig.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Selvig said.

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's… behaving." Selvig said, his tone worried.

"I assume you pulled the plug?" Nick questioned.

"She's an energy source. We turn the power off, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level…" Selvig was cut off by Hope.

"We all prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space–" She said.

"We don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation." Selvig cut her off. "Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation." He assured them.

"You can never know for sure. Where's Agent 13?" Nick asked.

"Over here!" Came a voice, as a woman with long blonde hair and a vest over her usual SHIELD uniform approached them.

"Sharon." Hope greeted her friend.

"Doctor, it's spiking again!" A

scientist said.

Everyone looked closely at the Tesseract. Energy as blue as he cube itself was starting to pulse from it. Suddenly, it cast a blue ray across the room, creating what appeared to be a hole in space itself. And then, something appeared from that hole. It was a pale-skinned man with long black hair, wearing elegant green and black garments. He wielded a scepter with a sharp and glowing blue point.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Nick ordered the man. The man looked at the scepter with curiosity, before firing a blast of energy from it. Nearby soldiers fired at him, but he seemed immune to their bullets. He leaped through the room, stabbing and blasting all the soldiers, not caring that he ruined all the equipment within it.

Sharon lunged at the mysterious man from behind, only for him to knock her to the ground, placing his scepter on her chest. Sharon's eyes turned pitch black, before returning mostly to normal– her irises glowed in an eerie shade of blue. Suddenly placid, Sharon got up and stood beside him.

Watching in horror, Nick took the Tesseract from its machine, placing it in a suitcase. While he did, the man used the scepter on more personnel. Hope hid behind a table, evading his notice.

"Please don't. I still need that." The man said politely when Nick tried to leave with the Tesseract.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Nick said.

"Of course it does. I'm come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." The man said.

"Loki, god of mischief?!" Selvig gasped.

"Well, we have no quarrel with Asgard. We weren't even sure it existed until right now." Nick told Loki.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki smirked.

"Are you planning to step on us?" Nick asked. Loki feigned incredulousness.

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free." Loki said, with a faux smile.

"Free from what?"

"Freedom." Loki answered. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that… in your **_heart_** …" He said as he placed the scepter on Selvig's chest. "You will know peace."

"You say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Nick snarled at Loki.

"Fury's stalling. Place is about to blow, he wants to take us with it." Sharon informed Loki.

"He's right, the portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical." Selvig said.

"Ma'am?" Loki said to Sharon. Taking out a gun, she shot at Nick, who ducked out of the way. She ran to the suitcase and came back to Loki with it, and took off along with him and everyone else under the scepter's control. They arrived at the parking lot, where Maria was.

"We need these vehicles." Sharon told the people there.

"Who's that?" Said Maria, pointing to Loki.

"Fury didn't tell me." Sharon said, as Loki sat in the back of the pickup truck Sharon and Selvig climbed into.

"Hill! Do you copy?! Carter has turned!" Fury's voice shouted through Maria's comm link. Sharon suddenly got out of the pickup, firing at her. Maria ducked out of the way, and the truck took off. Maria shot back at them, but they got out of the way.

"After them! Shut them down!" Nick ordered as he and Hope hurried out of the facility. Maria jumped into a Jeep and pursued them, as did the agents with her. Loki took out several cars with his staff. Nick and Hope reached a helicopter where Phil was waiting for them. Just as the helicopter took off, a shockwave took out the facility, making it crumble and sink to the ground. Phil and Nick watched grimly, when Hope suddenly gasped.

"It's Loki!" She shouted, pointing to the truck where Loki was. Nick opened the helicopter door and started to shoot at Loki, only for a blast from Loki's scepter to come flying towards them, prompting Nick and Hope to leap out of the helicopter. They stood up, shaking dirt off themselves. Phil was still in the helicopter.

"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" Phil asked through a communicator.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?" Nick answered.

"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors." Maria said.

"Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." Nick said.

"I'll help." Hope said.

"Are you ready to fight? Because as of right now… we are at war." Nick said.

"What do we do?" Phil asked, voice cracking. A steely, determined expression grew on Nick's face.

"We assemble the Avengers."


	2. The Recruits

Hope was making her way down the streets of Madrid, Spain.

"You sure about this, Miss Van Dyne?" Phil asked.

"Absolutely. Give me an hour, I'll be back with at least one recruit for the Initiative. Maybe two." Hope said.

"Where are you, anyway? I know you're in Madrid, but where in Madrid? In case you need backup." Phil asked.

"I won't need backup. As for the question…" Hope said, smiling when she found a crowd. "I'm at a magic show."

Two mysterious performers stood in front of the crowd. One was a brunette woman wearing a red dress and black leggings, and the other was wearing a black and red suit with a gray helmet.

"To end our show for tonight, I, the stunning Scarlet Witch, and my partner, the astonishing Ant-Man, shall combine our abilities to create one final, amazing trick!" The brunette said. Her partner, Ant-Man, was suddenly enveloped in red haze, and he disappeared when the haze faded! "Everyone in the center, please move away!" Scarlet Witch said. They did so, and a small ball of red haze flew up above the crowd. Then, Ant-Man appeared in the sky, twirling in the air as he fell back to the ground. The crowd cheered, as Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch both bowed to their adoring fans. The crowd soon dispersed, leaving the two alone.

"Bravo! That was a wonderful show!" Hope said, stepping up to them.

"Always good to see a fan." Ant-Man said.

"Your name?" Scarlet Witch said.

"Hope. Your names are quite impressive, I must say." Hope said.

"Well, they certainly get people's attention." Ant-Man chuckled.

"And that means more people see our show. More people get to experience pure wonder, pure awe, pure joy… that's why we do it. To inspire those lovely feelings in people." Scarlet Witch said.

"Huh. And here I was thinking it was to make money while evading the police, since one of you is a criminal charged with multiple cases of burglary. Scott Lang, you should be serving jail time right now." Hope said, pointing at Ant-Man. "Scott" stiffened in fear, before lowering his helmet, revealing himself to be a man in his thirties with slick black hair and hazel eyes. Scarlet Witch looked at him, biting her lip.

"It's the end of the line, then? Fine. Do what you want to me, but stay away from Wanda. She's done nothing wrong." Scott said, squeezing his partner's arm comfortingly.

"I won't hurt her. I'm not even here to hurt you, although considering you're using tech you stole from Pym Technologies, which I am now CEO of, I really, really want to." Hope said.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Right now, I'm here on behalf of SHIELD. Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division." Hope said.

"That's a mouthful." Wanda commented.

"You don't say. Look, one of SHIELD's power sources has fallen into the hands of an enemy. His name is Loki, and he seems to be the same one from Norse legend. The power source he stole is a powerful relic called the Tesseract. We need people who can stop him. If you help us, Scott, your slate is cleaned." Hope said.

"I'm in." Scott said, without hesitating.

"Scott! You're just going to say yes, even after hearing what they're up against?" Wanda gasped.

"I mean, if I don't help, it sounds like the world might end, and that's not going to do anyone any good." Scott said, shrugging.

"Then I'm in as well. Where one of us goes, both of us go." Wanda said.

"Hold on, who are you?" Hope asked.

"Wanda Maximoff. Some weird scientists… they took me from my home, experimented on me. Gave me strange powers. I used those powers to break free, and then I met Scott. He broke out of prison with his suit. The two of us have been inseparable ever since." Wanda said.

"Alright then. Two for the price of one." Hope said with a grin.

A little bit after that, a cool breeze blew across a sprawling city, and a dark-skinned man with an impressive beard sat down on a balcony shaped like a panther's gaping jaws, looking at a hologram.

"Director Fury." The man greeted.

"Prince T'Challa." Nick greeted him back.

"I read the files you gave me on the situation. How can I help?" T'Challa asked.

"We're putting together a team, of the world's best people. You got anyone that might be interested?" Nick asked.

"The situation seems very desperate, so… I myself volunteer. If the world is in danger, I want to know for sure that I'm doing all I can to save it." T'Challa said.

"You? We're facing a threat unlike any we've ever seen before. I don't want to risk being directly responsible for the death of Wakanda's prince!" Nick said.

"You believe that fighting this man is a death sentence, and you still ask me to volunteer my own people?" T'Challa said.

"I'm asking you to volunteer someone that's older than a college student, and realizes just how dangerous fighting a literal god could be." Nick said.

"Gods don't scare me. My family has experience with them." T'Challa said with a grin.

"Your family has experience with what?!" Nick said.

"I didn't say anything." T'Challa feigned naïveté. SHIELD had discovered Wakanda's vibranium supply and technology on accident (and had thankfully agreed to keep it a secret), he wasn't about to accidentally tell them about a whole other side of Wakanda's power.

"Hmm…" Nick glared at T'Challa.

"I can handle this. I'm coming, whether you like it or not, and I'll bring everything I'll need." T'Challa said.

"Fine. I'll register you as part of the team." Nick said, hanging up. T'Challa got up, only for a young girl to approach him.

"Are you going somewhere?" She asked him. T'Challa smiled.

"Shuri, we're going to go steal Father's suit and a Heart-Shaped Herb."

Nick sighed after he hung up. His next incoming call would not be a pleasant one… but he had to accept it, and watched as the faces of the World Security Council appeared onscreen.

"You're our of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control." One member said to him.

"You ever been in a war, councilman? A firefight? Did you feel an over-abundance of control?" Nick replied.

"You're saying this 'Asgard' has declared war on our planet?" The councilman asked.

"Not Asgard. Loki. But he alone is incredibly powerful." Nick corrected.

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase Two. It was designed exactly for this kind of–"

"Phase Two isn't ready, our enemy is. We need a response team." Nick said.

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down." The councilman reminded Nick.

"This isn't about the Avengers." Nick said.

"You're running the world's greatest security network and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks?" The councilman said.

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We _need_ a response team. You're right, these people are unstable. They're criminals, fugitives, college students! But with the right push, they can become exactly what we need." said.

"Superheroes?" A councilwoman scoffed.

"Maybe. I do know they can become some sort of heroes, the heroes we need to win this war." Nick said. He hung up before they could argue.

A few hours later, Hope had arrived at one of SHIELD's facilities with Scott and Wanda. It seemed to be an airfield… floating in the middle of the ocean.

"This place is incredible…" Wanda gasped.

"Yeah, but what kind of place is this?" Scott asked.

"You'll see." Hope said, as a slick black aircraft descended a dozen yards away from them. Out of it came a man in dressed in a dark purple dress suit made of crushed velvet, as well as a necklace with silver claws.

"Prince T'Challa! Director Fury told me you'd be coming. He's informed me and my recruits of your country's achievements, they're very impressive! Don't worry, all three of us are sworn to secrecy." Hope said as he approached her.

"Miss Van Dyne. I must say, I'm also very impressed by your company's work." T'Challa said.

"It's an honor to meet you and to hear that. I'd like you to meet Scott Lang and Wanda Maximoff." Hope said.

"Greetings." T'Challa said politely.

"Hello." Wanda said.

"It's amazing to meet you." Scott said, holding out his hand. T'Challa shook it with vigor, before a siren went off.

"Well, I'd recommend you all head inside, if you enjoy breathing." Hope said.

"Wait, is this a submarine?" Scott asked.

"No, I recognize the sound of flight turbines. This is an aircraft, a big one." T'Challa said. The four of them made their way to the inside of the aircraft, where SHIELD agents were busy at work as the aircraft prepared to take off.

T'Challa and Hope watched quietly, but Wanda and Scott had jaws hanging open and eyes as big as saucers.

"Impressive, isn't it? Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, T'Challa, I'd like to welcome you to the helicarrier." Nick said, right as the aircraft finally lifted out of the water, at impressive speeds.

"Engage retro-reflective panels!" Maria called out. To the outside world, it seemed as though the helicarrier had disappeared.

"This is incredible. So, what do you need us to do?" Wanda asked.

"Once we find Loki, we're going to need you to capture him and make him surrender the Tesseract. There's no telling what he plans to do with it. We have facial recognition software trying to find him, and our top scientists are devising a formula to search for the cube's radiation signature.

"Sir, we have a hit! Facial recognition software has located Loki in Stuttgart, Germany!" An agent cried out to Nick.

"Does it look like he could have the Tesseract with him?" Nick asked.

"No, it doesn't like he could keep it on his person at the moment." The agent said.

"Then it may be a false alarm. T'Challa, you'll go to scout it out. If it looks serious, I'll send Scott and Wanda as well." Nick said.

"I would like to go as well, sir." Hope asked.

"Alright then. Hope, T'Challa, you'll take a Quinjet to Stuttgart." Nick said, as the two made their way to the hangar. Nick sighed when they were gone.

"Are you okay, sir?" Wanda asked. Nick nodded.

"I'm fine. I'm hopeful, in fact. Maybe this will all be over as quickly as it started."


	3. A Strange Interference

Just recently arriving at a lab near Stuttgart, Loki sat with the scepter in his hand. It began to glow, and Loki watched as his surroundings faded to outer space. A grotesque figure, draped in black and yellow robes, glared at him.

"The Chitauri grow restless." The figure, which Loki knew solely as "The Other", snarled at him.

"Let them gird themselves, I will lead them in a glorious battle." Loki said.

"Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?" The Other laughed.

"Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as formidable as you claim." Loki said.

"YOU QUESTION US?!" The other growled. "You question he who put the scepter in your hand? He who rescued you from Asgard, where your powers and your leadership were never acknowledged? Where you were lied to by everyone you held dear? Where you were doomed to never become king?! Your ambition is little, and born of childish need. We look beyond Earth, to greater world the Tesseract will unveil." The Other snarled.

"You don't have the Tesseract yet." Loki pointed out. The Other lunged at him.

"I don't threaten, but until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words." Loki taunted The Other.

"You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is from us, there will be nowhere you can run from the might of Thanos. You think you know pain? He will make you wish for something as sweet as pain!" The Other growled, just as Loki's surroundings returned to normal. He looked up to see Selvig, surrounded by scientists, working on a machine.

"Where did you find all these people?" Selvig asked Sharon, who held a tablet in her hands.

"SHIELD has no shortage of enemies, doctor. Is this what you need?" Sharon asked.

"Yes, iridium! It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. Very tough to get your hands on." Selvig said.

"Especially if SHIELD knows you need it." Sharon said.

"I didn't even know I needed it. It's all thanks to the Tesseract. It shows you so much… not just knowledge. It shows you truth. What did it show you, Sharon?" Selvig said.

"What we need to do." She answered.

"What do you need?" Loki asked.

"A distraction and an eyeball." Sharon said, pacing anxiously.

"Let's make our move." Loki said, smiling.

Outside a ball in Stuttgart, the guards dropped like flies, as Sharon walked away with a silencer on her rifle. Loki was walking through the ballroom in a fancy suit. He made his way down the stairs, greeting guests and sipping on a drink, until he saw exactly who he was looking for. Grinning, he smacked someone with his scepter, and held a device to another man's eye, while all the guests watched in horror.

"Perfect." Sharon said as the data from the eye transferred to a device she held, allowing her to bypass a locked door that required a retinal scan. Waiting for her was a tube containing a shiny metal: iridium.

Everyone fled the ballroom, as Loki's fancy suit was replaced with Asgardian robes, a horned helmet atop his head. He teleported into the streets, blasting away police cars. Surrounding the guests with illusions, he gave out an order.

"Kneel before me!" He demanded, but nobody listened. Frustrated, he raised his voice. "I said… KNEEEEEEL!"

Crowds looked up at him in horror, as they kneeled, trembling and whimpering. Loki sighed in relief.

"Is this not simpler?" He asked them. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy, in a mad scramble for power… for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end… you will always kneel." Loki said to the crowd. A man stood up, glaring at Loki.

"Not to men like you." The elderly man said.

Loki chuckled. "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you." The man said, unfazed. Loki closed his eyes for a moment.

"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." Loki said, firing a blast from the scepter at the man. But something reflected the blast back at Loki, and that something was a man in a black vibranium suit with cat-like ears, silver markings on the face, and silver claws on the fingers and worn as a necklace. It was T'Challa!

"And who are you?" Loki asked.

"Call me the Black Panther. I'm an Avenger." T'Challa said, staking towards Loki. Loki charged up an extra powerful blast, but T'Challa ducked out of the way, sliding between Loki's legs and slashing at him from behind. Loki fired a serious of weak but swift blasts, which T'Challa brushed off like nothing, to Loki's dismay.

"Your technology is formidable, but I have the upper hand. Surrender, and I'll spare you, fold you into the ranks of my growing army." Loki said.

"A Wakandan never surrenders!" T'Challa shouted, lunging at Loki's face and knocking him to the ground. "WHERE IS THE TESSERACT?!" He demanded. Loki snacked him with the scepter, knocking him to the ground as well.

"As if I'd tell you!" Loki laughed, getting to his feet. "Besides, you are outnumbered!" Loki and his illusions jeered.

"But not outgunned." T'Challa said. A Quinjet came into view, a cannon aimed at Loki.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Hope's voice came from the PA.

"Oh no, a cannon. Certainly not something I could take out with ease." Loki smirked.

"Is that how it is?" Hope said, putting the Quinjet on autopilot. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, what seemed like a speck of dust suddenly grew to human size, revealing itself to be a person in a yellow and dark blue suit, with a gray helmet and insect-like wings.

"Make your move, Loki." Hope's voice came from the suit. Outmatched, Loki dissolved his illusions, and his clothing returned to his normal black and green outfit.

"Nice design." T'Challa said, glancing at Hope.

"Thanks." She said in return, while Loki watched with unease.

Still in her suit, Hope piloted the Quinjet back to the helicarrier, while T'Challa watched Loki sternly.

"So, you have a name for yourself?" T'Challa asked.

"The Wasp." Hope answered.

"Nice name. T'Challa commented. He narrowed his eyes at Loki. That had been easy… too easy. He gasped in surprise when orange sparks started to form beside Loki.

"What are you doing?" T'Challa demanded.

"This isn't me!" Loki said. The ring of sparks formed a portal, and out came a man with black and white hair, wearing dark blue robes and a red cloak.

"Who are you?!" Hope demanded, putting the Quinjet on autopilot once again.

"I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. You'll thank me later." The man said, grabbing Loki and disappearing through the portal with him.

"Hey!" T'Challa shouted, as he and Hope leaped through the portal. They found themselves in what appeared to be a broken down house, so ruined that if they moved, the whole thing might come tumbling down. They huddled together, while they heard Stephen talking to Loki.

"So… you're Loki Odinson, god of mischief."

"Laufeyson." Loki corrected.

"Whatever. You see, as a Master of the Mystic Arts, my job is to protect the world from mystical threats, and you are definitely one of those threats. And it seems you came in contact with the Tesseract, which is supposed to be under SHIELD's protection." Stephen said.

"Yes, that's all true." Loki said.

"Where did you put the Tesseract? An evil being such as yourself should not have access to such a powerful relic!" Stephen shouted.

"I don't know. I sent it off, I know not where." Loki said. Stephen let out a heavy sigh.

"You expect me to take the god of mischief at his word?" Stephen laughed. T'Challa sighed as well, he'd had enough of this.

"Stop!" T'Challa said out loud. Suddenly, the surroundings changed from a ruined building to a dimly lit house, built like a Gothic mansion, home to lots of dust, cobwebs, and strange items in glass cases.

"Welcome to the Sanctum Sanctorum. What are you doing here?" Stephen asked. He had Loki in glowing orange chains.

"Loki is a prisoner of SHIELD. Hand him over." Hope said.

"No. My job is to protect Earth from mystical threats. Let me do my job." Stephen said.

"Well, it's SHIELD's job to defend Earth from all sorts of threats. Let them do their job." Hope said.

"No!" Stephen said.

"I'm sick of you!" Hope said, lunging at Stephen and launching concussive energy blasts from the suit's gauntlets. Stephen created orange shields on his hands, deflecting the energy. Hope shrunk down, then punched Stephen from behind, seemingly retaining her normal human strength.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into!" Stephen said.

"I believe I do, buddy!" Hope retorted.

"Are you ready to become a part of a war between every hostile mystical force in this world and all others?" Stephen said. Hope hesitated.

"A what?" Hope gasped, looking at her opponent with bewilderment.

"If you try to take down Loki, mystical beings will take it as a sign that you think you can stand up to them. Trust me… you can't." He said.

"Then come with me, and help SHIELD stop him." Hope said.

"Absolutely not. I work alone." Stephen said.

"You two, this isn't getting anyone anywhere. Doctor, we respect your privacy, but this is bigger than any one of us. SHIELD is powerful, too. We can work together. We will have to work together." T'Challa said. Stephen stared at T'Challa, before rolling his eyes and sighing.

"You're right. Unfortunately." Stephen said. He created another orange portal back to the Quinjet, and Hope and T'Challa stepped through it. Stephen followed, with Loki still in chains. The four of them would head back to the helicarrier together.


	4. Phase Two

Loki was silent as SHIELD foot soldiers escorted him through the helicarrier, casting a glare at Scott and Wanda as he passed by them. They glared back. Loki was brought to a glass cage, where he was locked into. Nick stood before him.

"In case it's unclear…" Nick began "If you try to escape… if you so much as scratch that glass…" Nick pressed a button, making the floor beneath the cage fold away. Only a layer of glass kept Loki from falling. "30,000 feet down in a steel trap! You get how that works?" Nick said. "Ant." He pointed at Loki. "Boot." He pointed at the control panel. Loki just smirked.

"An impressive cage. Not built for someone like me, I think. No… it's built for the same people you used to capture me. You don't fully trust them, do you? How desperate you must be, to have fallen so far you depend on criminals, after having so much power! But let me out, and I'll show you real power." Loki jeered.

"Let me know if real power needs a magazine or something." Nick said as he walked out.

Scott, Wanda, Stephen, Hope, and T'Challa had been watching the whole thing via security camera. They all exchanged bewildered glances. Saying that man was dangerous was an understatement.

"What a charming individual." Hope sarcastically remarked.

"A frightening individual. I'm able to see into people's minds, but I couldn't see into his." Wanda said.

"I'm sorry, you can see WHAT?" Hope said.

"Yeah. Telekinesis, telepathy, and energy blasts. That's her deal." Scott said.

"Well, that's not nerve wracking at all." T'Challa snarked.

"I don't use it on– he's our opponent, of course I'd try and get a read on him!" Wanda stammered.

"She's got good intentions, I swear. She doesn't mean to pry. It's like being a good listener, and then everyone calls you an eavesdropper just because your ears work." Scott said.

"She couldn't get into my mind if she tried." Stephen bragged.

"Can you get into ours?" Hope snarled.

"If I tried. But I won't." Stephen assured her.

"Well then, Dumbledore, what can you tell us about Loki?" Scott said, earning a glare from Stephen.

"My telepathy spell is weak, but from what I could gather, he plans to attack Earth with an extraterrestrial army called the Chitauri." Stephen said.

"…An army of aliens. We're up against an army of aliens. Perfect." Hope sighed.

"He must be trying to build another portal." Scott said.

"That must be why his army stole iridium at the ball. It's a stabilizing agent. He'll need it to keep the portal open. He can get most of the other materials easily, but he'll also need a high density power source to kickstart the Tesseract." Hope said.

"Could the scepter work?" T'Challa asked.

"Maybe. What's the status with that thing, anyway?" Hope asked.

"SHIELD just finished their examination of it. Keep an eye on it, will you?" Maria said as she walked in with the scepter, placing it on the table.

"This is surprisingly easy. You got a tablet or laptop I could borrow? If I'm not going to see any action, I think I'll watch some Netflix. Wanda's been mooching off my account, it's about time I actually use it." Scott said. Maria pulled one out from a cabinet in the table, handing it to him before leaving.

For a few minutes, there was peaceful silence, but that peace grew into unease. Suddenly, everyone found themselves staring at the scepter.

"Why is it doing this to us?" Wanda broke the silence.

"Loki brainwashed my friend Sharon with it, maybe being near it isn't a good idea. I… I'll see if I can help in the lab, where they're trying to find the Tesseract." Hope said.

"That's a good idea. I'll go get something to eat." Wanda said.

"T'Challa, will you walk with me?" Stephen asked.

"Sure." T'Challa responded. Soon, Scott was the only one in the room, until he got up and moved one room over, eyeing the scepter with unease.

"Why do you do it? Why do you put up with these people? I'm only here because they'll need my help. Not that you're not strong and capable, you definitely are, it's just… it feels like they're just dragging whoever they want into this. Heck, based on what I've read about Scott and Wanda, it sounds like they were doing just fine, until Hope brought them in." Stephen said.

"I may not be fond of SHIELD, or their methods, but they have the resources we need to stop Loki." T'Challa said.

"I get that. But why are you doing this? Why are you risking your life for this?" Stephen said.

"To save the world." T'Challa replied curtly.

"That's supposed to be my job… seeing SHIELD make people like you risk your lives for this… I just don't like it." Stephen sighed.

Wanda had just finished up her yogurt, and was going to find Scott, maybe watch a movie with him. She was interrupted by a voice whispering in her head. Loki's voice. She followed the voice, and came face to face with him.

"What do you want with me?" She demanded.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how our powers would mesh." Loki said.

"Hmm…" Wanda crossed her arms. "What did you do to Hope's friend?" She asked.

"I expanded Sharon's mind." Loki answered innocently.

"And what happens to Sharon when you win?" Wanda pressed.

"Why do you care? Hope doesn't trust you, not when she thinks you could be reading her mind right now." Loki said.

"You were spying on us." Wanda snarled.

"You're surprised?"

"No. Now answer my question." Wanda said.

"When I win, Sharon… I think I'll have Sharon kill Hope. Then, of course, I'll free Sharon from my spell, before I kill her." Loki said calmly, as though he were talking about his plans for lunch.

"You're a monster!" Wanda gasped.

"You are the monster, my dear." Loki said. Eyes watering, Wanda stalked away. She found Scott typing on his laptop, hard at work, while Hope, T'Challa, and Stephen all showed up at once.

"Have any of you heard of something called Phase Two? It has something to do with the Tesseract, but I've never been fully informed on it. Everyone was mentioning it in the lab." Hope asked.

"Oh, Phase Two is where SHIELD uses the Tesseract to make weapons." Scott said, holding up a laptop that displayed a top secret SHIELD file. Sure enough, there were blueprints for all sorts of Tesseract-powered weapons.

"What?! Scott, what did you do?!" Hope yelled.

"I wasn't on Netflix, I was hacking SHIELD's databases. I'm pretty good at this stuff, you know. I was going to erase my criminal record by myself. I don't trust them." Scott said.

"Neither do I, but hacking them isn't going to do any of us any good." T'Challa said.

"They only want the Tesseract back so they can make weapons from it. They're using us as means to an end. Can't say I'm surprised." Scott said.

"Those bastards… and to think I was planning to give it back to them!" Stephen said, clenching his fists tight.

"They should be allowed to use their resources how they want, without having to tell everyone." T'Challa said.

"SHIELD's not like Wakanda. It's not even a country." Scott said. Wanda and Hope looked at him with disappointment.

"What, are you mad at me for finding out the truth?" Scott asked them.

"We're mad at you for being so paranoid." Hope said.

"You nearly jeapordized our good standing with SHIELD, Scott." Wanda said.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're siding with the organization that lied to us all?" Scott said.

"Well, I'm not. Good on you, Scott." Stephen said.

"I'm… undecided." T'Challa said.

"Then leave the room, you're not contributing." Wanda growled.

"You can't just tell him to leave like that!" Hope chastised her. The arguing rose to a fever pitch, before Nick came rushing in.

"Wanda! Put down the scepter!" Nick shouted. Wanda looked down in horror to see she had picked it up. She dropped it quickly.

"Director Fury." Stephen greeted him in an icy tone.

"I heard Hope yell, so I decided to see what was going on. And look what I find! You're a team, you can't be squabbling like this over silly things!" Nick said, exasperated.

"Being lied to and used as a tool isn't silly! And we're no team." Scott said.

"We're a time bomb." Wanda said. As if on cue, an explosion suddenly rocked the helicarrier.

"What was that?!" Hope shouted. Everyone looked out the nearest window and saw who was docking. A jet belonging to Loki's army of rogue SHIELD agents, with Sharon on board. They were under attack.


	5. The Beginning of the End

An explosion had just shaken the entire helicarrier. Scott, Hope, and T'Challa immediately had their helmets on.

"We're under attack!" Wanda gasped.

"Yeah, we figured that!" Stephen said. Another explosion shook the helicarrier, knocking everyone but T'Challa through a wall.

"Are you okay?!" He shouted.

"Hill says a turbine is out! Hope, T'Challa, you go try and fix it!" Nick said.

"On it!" Hope said, shrinking down and flying up to T'Challa. They took off to try and fix the turbine, while Nick made his way over to the control hub of the carrier.

"I need to keep Loki from getting away!" Stephen said, and he flew off, leaving just Scott and Wanda alone in the darkness of the storage bay.

"Wanda? Wanda, where are you?" Scott said. He felt his hand brush against her dress, and immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't worry, Wanda, don't worry, everything will be fine, everything will be fine. We'll be perfectly fine, I swear, I swear…" Scott tried to comfort her.

"Get away!" Wanda screamed, wriggling away from his grasp. Her eyes were glowing bright red, and she was panting and sweating.

"Wanda!" Scott exclaimed.

"I said get away!" Wanda screamed, running from him as energy started to pulse from her. Scott watched in horror, before fleeing from the red shockwaves filling the room.

"Bring the carrier back to a 1-8-0, heading south! Take us to the water!" Nick ordered as he reached the control hub.

"We're flying blind. Navigation's recalibrating after the engine failure." An agent said.

"Is the sun coming up?" Nick asked.

"…Yes, sir." The agent said.

"Then put it on the left, and get us over water. One more turbine goes down, and we drop!" Nick instructed.

T'Challa was looking at the ruined exterior of the helicarrier, where Hope was flitting around and observing the damage. "Hope!" He called out.

"T'Challa! We need to get the supercoolant conducting system online and activate the rotors before we can dislodge the debris from the turbine! Get to the engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position!" Hope said, growing to normal size and hovering midair. T'Challa leaped up to the control panel, while Hope shrunk again to reach the ship's internal mechanics.

"The relays are intact! But even with the rotors cleared, the ship won't re-engage without a jump!" T'Challa shouted to Hope.

"I'll have to fly into the turbine and push." Hope replied.

"You'd be a bug on a windshield! Semi-literally!" T'Challa pointed out.

"Push the red lever, it will slow down the rotors long enough for me to get in." Hope said. T'Challa nodded, and leaped towards the lever.

Wanda had to get away, she had to get somewhere where she couldn't hurt anyone. Her powers grew more powerful with stress, and this was extremely stressful. She crossed paths with Stephen, who was unable to find Loki. Upon seeing what was happening to her, Stephen created a net of orange light that surrounded Wanda, keeping in the energy.

"Take deep breaths, Wanda! This will hurt, but it will stop the energy bursts!" He said. Wanda nodded, breathing in and out, until she felt a burning sensation and began to scream. Stephen squeezed her hand, only for Scott to run in and see Wanda screaming from one of Stephen's spells. He shrunk down and punched Stephen in the face, knocking him through a wall.

"What the hell, are you trying to kill her?!" Scott said.

"No, Scott, he was helping!" Wanda said.

"…Oh." Scott said. Wanda looked wracked with guilt.

"I need to get off this ship…" She said, running towards a nearby window.

"Wanda, what are you doing? Wanda, no!" Scott shouted as Wanda lunged out the window, plummeting down to the ground. Scott dropped to his knees. "Wanda…" He whimpered. Then, he felt the helicarrier stop its free-fall. He looked up and out the shattered window to see T'Challa pushing down on a red lever, only stopping when Hope flew out from the turbine. They had fixed the helicarrier. T'Challa leaped over to Scott, and Hope flew right by him. Then, Scott panicked as he remembered punching Stephen through the wall. He took off running, and saw Stephen was face to face with Loki, near the glass cage. Both he and Stephen lunged at Loki, only to phase right through him.

"Shit!" Scott mumbled. It had been an illusion. Loki made his way over to the control panel, ready to drop Stephen and Scott out of the sky. But right before he could, Phil intervened.

"Move away, please." He said, holding a big gun. "This was made by SHIELD's best scientists, right after you arrived here on Earth. It's made specifically to take you out." Phil said. The gun began to charge up… and Loki stabbed Phil in the back right as it did.

"NO!" Scott screamed. Stephen tried to cast a healing spell in Phil's direction, only for the glass to reflect it back at him. Calmly, Loki pressed a few buttons on the control panel, and sent the glass cage flying out of the sky, with Stephen and Scott inside.

Hope had found Sharon in a hallway. Sharon fired a series of bullets at Hope. Loki had given her a variety of weapons. Hope shrunk down to dodge, only to see a dagger heading her way. She flew to the dagger's handle, tossing it back at Sharon. Sharon leaped out of the way, looking around wildly for Hope. She never saw as Hope grew back to normal size and hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out.

While Hope carried Sharon to safety, Phil weakly laughed at Loki.

"You're going to lose. It's in your nature." Phil said. Loki seemed amused.

"Am I? Your heroes are scattered, your fortress in the sky is in shambles. Where is my disadvantage?" Loki said.

"You lack conviction." Phil said as he bled. Loki smirked.

"I don't think I–"

A blast from Coulson's gun knocked Loki to the ground. Phil grinned weakly, before frowning as Loki got up and made his way to a rogue Quinjet, where the Tesseract was waiting. Then, Phil saw Nick running to his side.

"Sorry, boss. The god rabbited." Phil said as Nick knelt beside him.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me." Nick said.

"No, I'm clocking out here." Phil sighed.

"Not an option." Nick said.

"It's okay… this would never have worked if they didn't have something to…" Phil trailed off as the light faded from his still-open eyes. Nick gulped back tears. Phil was gone.

"Agent Coulson is down." Nick sighed through his comm link.

"I'll send a medical team." Maria replied. The

"No need." Nick sighed. Maria's eyes widened in horror. For a minute or so, she was alone with her grief, until T'Challa and Nick sat down with her.

"How bad is it?" T'Challa asked.

"Most of our systems are down. Agent Coulson is confirmed dead. Strange, Lang, and Maximoff all fell out of the helicarrier. Things aren't looking good." Nick said. T'Challa shook his head in despair.

"This is a mess…" T'Challa said.

"There are reports that Loki got away with the Tesseract and the scepter, as well. All he needs now is a power source." Maria said.

"Sir, facial recognition technology is still working! Loki was sighted in New York City!" An agent shouted as they came running in.

"He'll be able to get plenty of power there!" T'Challa said, getting up.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked.

"Avenging." T'Challa answered her, on his way to find Hope. He found her in a secure room with Sharon, who was awake and seemingly back to normal, chugging a bottle of water.

"So… Loki's going to attack the world with an army of aliens." Sharon said.

"More or less." Hope said.

"Don't worry. I'll gather a team of SHIELD agents, and we'll stop him before he can even begin the invasion." Sharon said.

"I'll be there too." Hope said.

"Hope, you don't have to do this. You're a businesswoman, not a soldier. You should go somewhere safe." Sharon sighed.

"You're right, she's not a soldier." T'Challa said, walking in. "She's an Avenger."

Sharon looked up at T'Challa in surprise. "Huh. You all dress super weird." She said.

"You don't know the half of it. Are you ready to go fight an army from outer space, Sharon?" Hope asked. Sharon nodded. She was ready to make amends.

Wanda's eyes fluttered open. She was in a log cabin, on a couch, where a woman gazed at her kindly.

"Where am I?" Wanda asked.

"A few miles away from New York City, dear. You fell out of the sky, right into my children's swimming pool! My daughter braided your hair while you were sleeping, if you don't mind. Oh, and my name is Kathy." The woman said.

"I see… I'm very sorry for the intrusion." Wanda said.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad you're okay. Amazed, as well, to be honest." The woman said.

"You sound like Scott." Wanda said.

"Who's Scott?" Kathy asked.

"He was my partner. All I really did was burden him, but he insisted I didn't. I just burden and hurt everyone. That's why I… I jumped out of a plane. I didn't want to burden anyone else."

"Oh, darling…" Kathy said. She placed her hand on Wanda's shoulder. "Sweetie, if everyone says they like you, why would you think you burden them?" She asked.

"You have no idea." Wanda sighed.

"Well, jumping out of a plane isn't going to help you, or the people you care about. I'd say you should go and do the best you can to help them with what they need, if you really don't want to burden them." Kathy said. Wanda blinked, touched by the woman's words.

"You're right." Wanda said, walking out the door.

"Woah! I'm not suggesting you go find them right now." Kathy said.

"You don't understand, Kathy! I have to go, now." Wanda said, floating in the air. Kathy gasped in shock.

"Thank you for everything." Wanda said sincerely, before taking off into the sky, while Kathy watched in awe.

Wanda flew threw the air, confident and proud. T'Challa, Sharon, and Hope entered the helicarrier's hangar with steely eyes. Hope and T'Challa had their helmets on, and Sharon was well-stocked on bullets, with a sheathed dagger hanging tightly from her belt. Stephen had brought Scott back with him to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where Stephen fastened on a pendant that held a green stone in what looked like a golden eye, and Scott was pouring some of the Pym Particles that powered his suit into little silver disks. All of them were ready to fight with everything they had. Loki was coming, but the Avengers were going to stop him.


	6. Avengers Assembled

Loki stood outside a power plant on the outskirts of New York City, approaching a device that Selvig had built for him. The Tesseract was at the center of the device.

"Is it ready?" Loki asked.

"She is!" Selvig said. Power flowed into the device, and it began to glow bright blue. It seemed like nothing could go wrong, until Wanda landed right in front of Loki.

"Hello." Loki greeted calmly.

"So, I'm the monster, and you're the one about to unleash an army of aliens on a city full of innocent people." Wanda sneered.

"You can't stop the Tesseract, miss. She's about to show us a whole new universe!" Selvig said. Wanda shot a blast of energy at him, just enough to knock him out. Maybe that would free him from Loki's spell. She stomped towards Loki, lifting his scepter into the air. When the Loki in front of her disappeared, she whipped around and lifted herself into the air. The real Loki watched as a ray of blue light shot upwards, creating a huge wormhole in the sky.

Watching in horror, Wanda moved the scepter to Selvig's side, as Loki teleported away. Looking up to the sky, she saw the first wave of Chitauri soldiers flying through the sky on jet-ski like chariots. She took off into the sky, incinerating as many as she could with energy blasts. She heard the familiar roar of a Quinjet's engine in the distance, and was delighted to see T'Challa, Sharon, and Hope taking out as many Chitauri as they could with the Quinjet's cannon. Hope flew out the back of the Quinjet to greet her.

"Wanda, you're okay!" She said, relieved.

"Where are Scott and Stephen?" Wanda asked.

"We don't know, but I'm sure they're okay." Hope replied. She punched a Chitauri air soldier in the face when it tried to get a jump on Wanda.

"Thank you." Wanda said. A small swarm of Chitauri suddenly surrounded them, but the swarm was quickly handled by Wanda and Hope.

"Let's save the world." Hope said with a grin.

Stephen and Scott stared in terror at the Chitauri army laying waste to the city. They had been too late. Stephen glanced down at the green stone in his pendant, but then looked up.

"Not worth the temporal damage." Stephen muttered under his breath.

"Strange, what do we do?" Scott asked.

"I have to find Loki. You try and find a familiar face. I'm sure the others are here as well." Stephen said.

"Sounds good!" Scott said, running off. Stephen flew into the air, and saw Loki on top of a building.

"Turn off the portal now, Loki!" Stephen commanded.

"I can't! Your little witch friend wouldn't let me!" Loki laughed.

"Smug son of a…" Stephen sneered, landing on the building beside Loki, distorting the air around him as though it were shattered glass. Loki found himself caught behind that glass.

"Have fun in the Mirror Dimension, where you can't affect the real world. I'll deal with you later." Stephen said, flying off. Loki would probably break free later, but for now that was the least of Stephen's worries. He could see Scott dodging the attacks from above of the air soldiers. Floating down to Scott's side, he created a shield of magical energy.

"You handled Loki?" Scott asked.

"For now. We need to find the others!" Stephen said. Scott stopped in his tracks.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we have to save the others!" Scott said. A whale-like Chitauri was flying through the city and wreaking havoc, and was headed towards the other Avengers.

"That's a Leviathan." Stephen muttered, before his cloak picked up Scott by the waist and flew them over to the Leviathan immediately, hurling Scott at the Leviathan just as Wanda's telekinetic hold on it began to falter. Scott shrunk down, squeezing right through a hole in the creature. He lunged at a huge beating heart, punching right through it and the Leviathan's metal-coated skin. Stephen grabbed him in his hand and flew him out of the way right before Scott could be crushed under the Leviathan. Sharon shot the foot soldiers clinging to the beast through the head.

"Stephen! Scott!" T'Challa gasped as Stephen flew over to the group. The six of them all instinctively stood back to back, facing the destruction around them. Scott grew back to normal size, his wild grin hidden under his mask, while Stephen floated a few feet off the ground, cloak billowing. Hope took the brief lull in the action to readjust her suit's blasters, while Sharon reloaded her rifle. T'Challa fully unsheathed his suit's claws, gleaming silver in the dusty sunlight. Wanda's braided hair whipped around as he raised her head up abruptly and cockily, hands glowing red. The Avengers has assembled.

"It's good to see you're all okay, but now we need a plan. Sharon, you and I can't fly or shrink, so we'll stay on the streets and fight off the foot soldiers. Scott, Hope, you can get into places other people can't, so search and rescue is up to you. Stephen, Wanda, you two take to the skies." T'Challa said. Everyone nodded in agreement, before they all took off.

Sharon charged through a line of foot soldiers with her dagger, stabbing them all in the chest. She watched with satisfaction as they all dropped to the ground, before taking out her hand rifle and shooting down one that was leaping towards her. T'Challa pounced towards a foot soldier threatening a young woman, digging his claws into the alien's chest. When another tried to attack him from behind, he slashed right through its neck.

"So, how did Hope get you back to normal?" T'Challa asked Sharon.

"Physical cognitive recalibration." Sharon answered.

"…Which is?" T'Challa said.

"She hit me really hard in the head." Sharon said, firing a round of bullets at the Chitauri trying to surround them. T'Challa chuckled, and continued to mercilessly year through the waves of Chitauri.

Scott and Hope found a huge pile of debris blocking the way for a group of schoolchildren trying to hide. Scott pulled out a silver disk with a red core, hurling it at the debris, which shrunk it down to a pile of dust. Hope stood slack-jawed, her expression hidden by her helmet.

"How did you do that?" Hope gasped.

"I made some emergency modifications to the suit. What do you think?" Scott said.

"You should work at Pym Tech, that's what I'm thinking!" Hope said, as she directed the schoolchildren to the subway. Hopefully the Chitauri wouldn't get all the way down there.

"I'll consider it!" Scott said, hurling another disk at a Leviathan making a nosedive towards the children. Hope incinerated the shrunken beast with a blast from her suit, before flying off towards the sound of a Chitauri squadron roaring and screaming at a man fleeing to safety. After Scott saw the last of the schoolchildren reach the subway, he followed her. Hope dazed the Chitauri with her blasters, and Scott shrunk down to punch the dazed aliens right through the skull. The man stared in awe at them, before they took off to see who else needed help.

Wanda got the attention of dozens of air soldiers, before turning them all to ash with her energy blasts. When three more Leviathans emerged from the portal, she flew over to Stephen, who had been taking out air soldiers with constructs made of mystic energy.

"Any ideas?" Wanda asked. Stephen's face paled when he saw the beasts making flying towards them.

"One." Stephen said, making an odd gesture with his fingers. The jewel in his pendant glowed, and with a flick of his hand, green runes enveloped the Leviathans, freezing them in time. Wanda took out the foot soldiers clinging to the Leviathans with beams of energy, and Stephen released a massive burst of mystic energy, blowing up the grotesque beasts. Wanda telekinetically grabbed the rubble from the explosions, hurling them at a fourth Leviathan emerging from the portal, scaring it back into the portal.

"We're great at this!" Wanda laughed, before a piece of rubble fell back from the portal and knocked her and Stephen out of the sky.

"Stephen! Wanda!" T'Challa gasped.

"Are you okay?" Scott said, running up to Wanda. Hope flew beside him.

"We're fine." Stephen said, before he heard a roaring noise. They hadn't scared the Leviathan away… they had pissed it off, and now it was flying towards them with at least eight more like it.

"Nine Leviathans. Nine of them. Perfect." Stephen muttered.

"Can't you just do your time-freezing spell?" Wanda asked.

"His what?" Sharon gasped.

"If I use it on all nine of them at once, I may damage the space-time continuum." Stephen said.

"We need something big." Hope said.

"I got something really big." Scott said, taking a silver disk with a blue core and placing it in the suit's size regulator, on the belt. With the press of a button, Scott was suddenly towering over the buildings, at least sixty feet tall. Everyone stared in awe as Scott punched right through each of the Leviathans, sending the beasts plummeting to the streets.

"That's incredible…" Hope gasped.

"This isn't working, guys. The Chitauri are still coming!" Sharon said.

"We need to close the portal. Scott, can you get us to the power plant where Loki opened the portal? Maybe we can figure something out there." Wanda said.

"On it." Scott said, scooping everyone up into his arms. He ran to the power plant, arriving quickly with his enhanced size. Just as he arrived, he shrunk back to normal size. Wanda caught everyone with her powers, setting them all on the ground gently.

"Scott, are you okay?" Hope asked.

"A little winded, but yeah!" Scott said. He was more than a little winded, however. Selvig was finally waking up.

"Doctor Selvig!" Hope said. The six of them ran over to him, with Scott, Hope, and T'Challa lowering their helmets. Selvig looked up at them in surprise.

"What happened?" Selvig asked.

"Loki opened another portal, and now aliens are attacking New York. Any idea on how to close it?" Sharon explained. Selvig stood up, then noticed Loki's scepter at his feet.

"The scepter! The scepter should be able to close the portal, if you could manage to touch the Tesseract with it. But the shockwave could kill you!" Selvig said.

"I'll do it. My suit is vibranium, I'll be fine." T'Challa offered.

"That's not going to be enough." Selvig said.

"Then let me do it. I ought to atone for what I did." Sharon said.

"You're not the one that needs to atone, I am. Let me do it." Wanda replied.

"Absolutely not. I'll do it." Scott said.

"It's already my job to defend this world from threats like these with my life, let me do it!" Stephen shouted.

"Enough!" Hope reprimanded them all. "We'll close the portal together." She said. Everyone looked at her, before nodding. Their pulses were racing and they were filled with fear, but that didn't matter. The world was counting on them.

Taking a collective deep breath, not sure how to say what could very well be their final goodbyes, they all picked up the scepter together, and as Selvig took shelter, he watched in awe as they shoved it right past the forcefield surrounding the device. In a bright flash of blue, all six of them were sent flying away from the energy bursting from the device.

Everything was a confusing blur to each of the Avengers. Voices echoed around inside their heads, and bright lights filled their vision. They may have never fully waken up if it wasn't for Scott sleepily mumbling, "Am I alive?"

T'Challa was the first to come to, shaking Scott awake. He looked at him, then looked around the roof they were on top of.

"Huh. I am alive." He said. He smiled in relief as he saw Wanda and Hope get to their feet. But Stephen was still lying on the ground, eyes closed and oozing blood from… somewhere.

"Stephen!" Hope shouted, as they all ran to his side.

"Stephen, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Scott asked, pulling the sorcerer's hand up to his ear. He was relieved and shocked to find a perfectly healthy heartbeat.

"How is he even unconscious?" Scott wondered.

"I'm not. I'm just tired." Stephen muttered, sitting up with a grumpy expression.

"You're okay, then?" Sharon asked.

"I'm fine, but I'm exhausted. Might have to ask Wong to guard the Sanctum for a few days…" Stephen sighed.

"We're all okay… and the portal is gone, too!" Wanda said, pointing to the sky.

"The Chitauri all… deactivated, or something. There must have been something up in space controlling them wirelessly, and without he portal, the signal it sent is lost." T'Challa added.

"Which means the only thing we have to worry about is…" Wanda trailed off.

"YOU!" Stephen suddenly yelled. Everyone turned around to see that Loki had escaped from what Stephen knew as the Mirror Dimension. But Loki was weakened, crawling on his hands and knees. He soon found himself surrounded, with all six of the Avengers staring down angrily at him. Loki's face filled with panic as he raised his hands in the air.

"Okay, maybe I was the monster." He said, getting a smile out of Wanda.

The Avengers were all over the media the next day. Almost every news outlet was talking about them, and none of them had the exact same opinion.

"Despite the devastation of what has been confirmed as an extraterrestrial attack, the extraordinary heroics of the group known as the Avengers has been a cause to many for not only comfort, but celebration…"

"It's just really great knowing they're out there, right? That someone's watching over us."

"I love you, Ant-Man!"

"I don't know, I don't exactly feel safer with those people out there…"

"It just seems like there's a lot they're not telling us."

"Superheroes? In New York? Give me a break."

"These so-called heroes have to be held responsible for the destruction done to the city. This was their fight. Where are they now?"

"Tough questions are being asked about the Avengers themselves. About their sudden appearance, and equally sudden disappearance…"

"What, that this is all somehow their fault? The Avengers saved my life! Wherever they are, I just want to say thank you."

Nick watched the world's reactions to the Avengers carefully, right before the World Security Council called him.

"Where are the Avengers?" A councilman asked.

"I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a leave of absence." Nick replied.

"And the Tesseract?" A councilwoman asked.

"Where it belongs. Out of our reach." Nick said.

"That's not your call to make." A third council member said.

"I didn't make it." Nick said with a grin.

The Avengers had all gathered in the park, each of them dressed casually. Stephen had placed the Tesseract in a tight container with a handle on both sides, and he himself was gripping one of those sides firmly. He had calibrated the Tesseract to connect to Asgardian ley lines, so it would take both him and Loki, who was wearing a muzzle made of Chitauri metal fiber, to Asgard. Stephen would explain just what Loki had done, and then return to Earth with his sling ring.

"And the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crimes?" A councilwoman asked.

"Oh, I think he will be." Nick said, as Stephen and Loki activated the Tesseract, taking them both up to Asgard in a portal of soft blue light.

As each of the Avengers left the fascinating scene, the council looked at Nick with disappointment.

"I don't think you understand what you've unleashed, letting the Avengers loose on the world. They're dangerous." A councilwoman said.

"They sure are. The whole world knows it. Every world knows it." Nick said.

"Was that the point of all this? A statement?" A council member said.

"No. A promise." Nick said, leaving as the council members slowly hung up.

"Sir, how does it work now? They've all gone their separate ways. Some pretty extremely far. If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?" Maria asked.

"They'll come back." Nick said confidently.

"You really sure about that?" Maria replied.

"I am." Nick said.

"Why?" Maria said.

"Because we'll need them to." Nick answered her solemnly. Maria slowly nodded, and the two gazed out the window, at the world that the Avengers had saved— and permanently changed.


End file.
